Forever Grateful
by Kristen3
Summary: While spring cleaning, Daphne comes across something which reminds her once again how lucky she is. Post-series. One-shot.


Daphne couldn't believe how much junk there was up here. She'd been doing some spring cleaning, and she figured she'd put a few things up in the attic. David was growing so quickly lately that he'd outgrown many of his clothes. But the baby was happy and healthy, so Daphne couldn't complain. She loved motherhood even more than she'd imagined she would. She had a few moments to spare right now, since David was taking a nap. As she looked around, she noticed a box that had been shoved into a corner. Since Niles had lived her long before she even found out how he felt about her, most of the things here were his. She knew she probably had no right to invade his privacy, but something about the box intrigued her.

Curiosity outweighed her guilt as she stepped toward it. It must've been here a while, because it was covered in dust. Niles would probably faint if he saw the condition it was in. Carefully she opened it. Inside, she found a statue of a dragon. It seemed unlike her husband to not display one of his prized antiques. But perhaps he no longer had room for it in his study. As she continued to examine it, she realized it somehow seemed familiar. And yet, she didn't ever remember seeing it before. Most likely her psychic powers were playing tricks on her. Or else her imagination was just a bit too active. Whatever it was, Daphne set the dragon down beside her and continued to look through the box. There wasn't much here. Just a few photographs, mostly of her. She smiled at the memories they brought back. Niles had always been handsome. For the umpteenth time, she was grateful he was her husband. Still caught up in her memories, Daphne took out another item from the box. It was a piece of paper. She recognized Niles' neat handwriting immediately. As she read, she felt tears forming in her eyes. Her head spun in disbelief at the words in front of her.

Just then, a sound brought Daphne back to the present. "Daphne? Where are you, my angel?"

Daphne bolted out of the attic. When she saw Niles standing in the hallway, she rushed toward him, hugging him more tightly than ever before. "I'm so sorry, darling."

Niles was dumbfounded. Daphne kissed him repeatedly, as tears flowed down her cheeks. "My love, what's the matter?" he asked when she came up for air. For a moment, Daphne merely stopped and stared at him. "Oh, Daphne...what's happened?" He put his arms around her, making gentle "Shh" sounds in an effort to calm her. Gradually, the sobs subsided. Niles let her go. His heart broke when he saw her expression. "Whatever it is, we can get through it together, I promise." He took her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "Just tell me what's upsetting you."

"This," Daphne replied, holding up the piece of paper.

Niles took it from her. He immediately remembered writing the words. The date in the upper left said, "May 13, 1999." As Niles read, the painful memory came flooding back.

_Tonight I watched the woman I love accept a proposal from someone else. The man who gave me back my life has now __taken__my life! I had my chance to stop her, but I let Frasier talk me out of it. Never mind that my own ethics would eventually have made me confess. I wish I could tell Daphne the real reason I don't want her to marry him. But I can't do that, no matter how much I want to. The one thing I have to hold on to is that she's happy. Donny apparently makes her happy. And if I love her, __really__ love her, then I should just let her be happy. Even if right now, it feels like my heart is breaking_.

Niles looked up at Daphne. "I found it in the attic. I just never realized what I put you through."

He reached over, brushing a tear with his thumb. "It's true, when I wrote this, I was at one of the lowest points of my life. But that was a long time ago. You didn't marry Donny. And for that, I'm forever grateful." This time, he kissed her.

Daphne smiled when the kiss ended. "How did I get this lucky?"

Niles took her hand in his. "I ask myself that every day."

After a blissful moment of being lost in one another's eyes, Daphne remembered the strange statue. "There was something else in the box with this." All at once, she remembered where she'd seen the dragon before. "Me vision!"

Niles looked at her in confusion. "My love, what are you talking about?"

"Right after I accepted Donny's proposal, I had another one of me visions. I saw me soul mate standing next to a dragon. I told your father I must be imagining things. But I guess I wasn't."

Niles nodded. "Roz gave me that statue as a thank-you for helping get Alice into pre-school. I never liked it, but I couldn't quite bring myself to get rid of it, either."

Daphne grinned, glad to have validation that her powers were not all in her head. "I guess everything worked out perfectly, didn't it?"

Niles kissed her once again. "More perfectly than I could've imagined it."

**The End**


End file.
